Grey-breasted Parakeet

Salvadori - White -eared parrot ( Pyrrhura griseipectus )

The Salvadori - White -eared parrot ( Pyrrhura griseipectus ) is a species of parrot from the genus of Rotschwanzsittiche ( Pyrrhura ). It is native to Brazil.

Features

The Salvadori - White -eared parrot reaches a size 22 to 23 centimeters. From the nominate it differs by its more strongly banded gray breast, a more intense white coloration of the ear-coverts and the lack of blue staining of the forehead. The wing length is 116-127 mm. In adult birds, the area between the forehead and the neck is dark brown leather with brown spots and streaks. The headband, the reins, the cheeks and the area behind the eyes is reddish - brown. The ear-coverts are white. The chest is dull gray with a white and dunkelgraunen harness. The hind neck feathers are green with broad, blue seams. The belly center, a patch on the lower back and upper tail-coverts are brownish - red. The tail is reddish- brown. The beak is gray-black. To the brownish- orange iris runs a unbefiederter gray - white eye ring. The legs are brownish- gray. The juvenile birds are duller in color than the adult birds with a less pronounced banding at the chest. On the red underbelly spots scattered green feathers are visible. The cere and eye ring are white and less gray.

Habitat

The Salvadori - White -eared parrot inhabits moist Bergwaldenklaven above 500 meters in the otherwise semi-arid northeast of Brazil. This wet " sky islands" be referred to locally as " Brejos ". The zone of humid forests goes into a semi-dry deciduous forest zone over and finally in the dry Caatinga steppe. The forests are confined to the highlands with granite and sandy soils where the annual rainfall is four times as high as in the lowlands.

Way of life

Little is known about the life of Salvadori and white parakeet ear. He is a gregarious bird which is often found in groups of up to 20 individuals. In flight it is noisy, while eating in the trees on the other hand very softly, so that it is difficult to observe. The main food consists of the fruits of Inga bahiensis, Byrsonima sp., Syzigium jambolanum, Eryobotria japonica and from the seeds of Croton sp .. The breeding season is from February to May A nest was discovered in 8 meters height in a nesting hole in a tree of Hülsenfrüchtlerart Inga bahiensis. The nest consists of 2 to 4 eggs, the average 25.1 mm long, 19.9 mm in diameter and 5.4 g are heavy.

Inventory and risk

The Salvadori and white -eared parrot is threatened by the IUCN in the category of extinction ( critically endangered ) classified. During a counting action of the conservation organization AQUASIS ( Associação de pesquisa e Preservação de ecossistemas aquáticos ) in 2007, 80 copies were detected, presumably representing a total population of less than 250 individuals. As the main threat to habitat loss and the catches for the cage bird trade apply. The Salvadori - White -eared parrot originally came before in four regions in northeastern Brazil, today a population at Baturité massif in the state of Ceará has probably only survived. Again, he seems to be very rare. The forests in the Baturité Mountains have been heavily cleared to make way for coffee plantations. 1996 only 13 percent of the forested area was obtained. Earlier occurrences are known from the eastern slopes of the Serra de Ibiapaba and from around Quixada and the Serra Negra in Pernambuco, where the Salvadori - White -eared parrot around the year 1974 was still common. Unconfirmed sightings 1991, there were in the ecological station of Murici, but in this case it could have probably traded to left free copies. A search for populations outside the Baturité Mountains in the years 2007 and 2008 was inconclusive.

Since 2007, together with the Chester Zoo and the Loro Parque Fundación promotes ZGAP, a conservation project that is carried out by the Brazilian conservation organization Aquasis. Part of this project is the completion of the basic data on the biology of the species, through field investigations which include color-coded guides and collecting DNA samples. The DNA samples can thereby be used not only for scientific issues, but also for the identification of illegal catches. Also nesting boxes are hung.

System

Based on a cage bird of unknown origin Salvadori - White -eared parrot in 1900 by Tommaso Salvadori has been described as a distinct species. Due to the great similarity with the White -eared parrot looked at Carl Eduard Hellmayr the taxon in 1929, however, as a subspecies. In 2000, Leo Joseph explained on the basis of diagnostic differences in size and plumage that the Salvadori - White -eared parrot is to deliver incorporate the white -eared parrot. Followed in 2005 by the South American Classification Committee of this assessment and classified it as a separate species. Based on a molecular analysis from 2006 showed Camila C. Ribas that the genetic differences between the Salvadori - White -eared parrot and the white -eared parrot are too low to further maintain the species status. Subsequently, the South American Classification Committee ( SACC ) in 2008 had decided the Salvadori - White -eared parrot downgrade again as a subspecies of White Ear Conure. After 2009, the differences between the Salvadori - White -eared Parrot and White -eared parrot (especially in the plumage coloration and vocalizations ) were explained in detail, the SACC decided in 2010 for a new survey in the species status.